Play it as it lies!!!!

[Spyder]

Haha. I was cracking up this morning when I was reading your guys's responses. Especially the Hot Foot Wedge and the "You're playing no-tap golf" line. That will burn him right up between those two lol.

Well we went out again and I just wanted to extend my Thank You to all of you who had some input. Whether you agreed with me or not, all of the input was helpful and much appreciated. He still rolled the ball and I was fine with it because I told him I will not throw any money/drinks on the line unless we play by a set of rules. He was cool with that and we had a really fun day. I shot 82 to his 81 and he still got me by one stroke , and of course he kept calling me " one stroke choker " which was actually pretty funny. Great time over all!

Again, please know that I mean no offense to anyone who rolls the ball. That style of play is absolutely fine when it's just for fun with no money on the line. My situation was just a little different with 2 competitive hard-heads (myself and my bud). It's cool to read through the advice given because I can tell that the one-liners out there are coming from people a bit older than me. Those lines remind me of stuff that my dad would be saying while he's laughing at our stupidity lol.

He would open a beer and be like " Guys... really? One is playing 9-pin no-tap and the other thinks he's on TV.... You... why don't you just roll the ball to the cup? And you, there's no 6 foot check waiting for you son - hit the damn ball already!" while shaking his head laughing.

[huckleberry658]

where i live we have two close courses from my house. one is nice, but no walking, only cart. i like to walk for the excersize and play 5-6 times per week in season. im so tired of this cheap owner, who wont fertilize and water properly. im tired of paying for his cheap @##. im tired of hitting beautiful shots that skim off of rock hard fairways to lie on top of sun baked clay. i always move my ball to grass, every time, without guilt. btw- had a quadruple bypass 3 years ago, and picked up golf to get in shape, hence the walking, lost 30 pounds and feeling great. i admittedlt would prefer to cart and play the nicer course, but nothing is more important than my health.

[Chief Broom]

To the OP I'd encourage your friend to roll his ball.  When he hits a bad tee shot urge him to play a mulligan.  Behind a tree, roll it out into the fairway for him (ok that might be a bit much but encourage him to take the tree out of play).  Do this all the time.  Then when you're ready prior to playing tell him it's time to put more than bragging rights on the line.  This time it's for cash.  Enough cash to shut him up.  Maybe that's a hundred?  Maybe more, maybe less, but enough so that you'll both take the game seriously.  Then also tell him in this match you both will be playing by the strict rules of golf and that if he so much as nudges his ball on purpose he will be penalized for it.  I'd suggest having the current rule book on hand so that you can settle any questions as they arise in short order and also so that he can't claim you are making stuff up, because quite frankly I doubt the guy has a very good grasp on how to play by the rules.  I predict he'll either back out of the match, in which case you've shut him up or he takes you up on the match and at long last you'll find out who's got the better game on that day.  He might surprise you and rise to the occassion, then again he might not in which case you'll have proved your point.  Be careful though rolling the ball isn't as detrimental to your game as some might think.  He might actually enjoy winning and when the pressure is on playing by the rules won't be a big deal.  The only way you'll find out is to put it up with him or leave it alone and let him play his game while you play yours.

[Spyder]

I actually had the opportunity to play him last week $5 per hole. All ties carry over, nothing fancy and no stipulations. I made it very clear that you play it as it lies, but didn't throw the handbook at him because I'm not like that. One hole he was laying between two big tree roots and there was no way I'd let him hit that. He would have either broken his club or his wrist lol. All in all he took me 7 holes and I took 11. Dispute was settled and he understands that playing it as it lies is the better option for the long-term. Had a blast and ate/drank/golfed for free out of it! Well not quite, but it definitely helped!

[mdl]

Originally Posted by Gresh24

I guess I look at golf different.  When I play, it is not a competition with my friends or who I'm playing with.  I take it seriously and am very competitive, but to me I am competing with myself and the course.  I have a big drive to get better and improve, just never had to beat, or be better than any of my friends.

Yup.  I feel the same way.  Who gives a s**t what rules your friends play by or what score they think they shot.  If they rib you about beating you having hit tons of foot wedges and the like, just give it right back.  Tell them they can say they've beat you when they stop playing by a set of rules written for 9 year old girls.  I feel very competitive with myself and the course, but unless I'm playing for money (rarely), I don't feel competitive with my friends at all.  I'm happy for them if they're having a good round.

[BuckeyeNut]

Originally Posted by Spyder

Hey guys. I just wanted to get some of your opinions on this. My buddy, who I golf with all the time when my father is not able to go with me, will almost never play the ball as it lies.

My 2 cents...let him have his fun because most casual weekend golfers don't play by the rules.  There just out there to have a good time.....He he razzes you about your score, I'd challenge him to play for $$$$, but the only catch is he must play by the rules.(which beans ball-down!)  That outta' shut him up quick.  LOL

If there's no skin in the game, it doesn't bother me one bit if a playing partner plays preferred lies.

[Shorty]

Originally Posted by Spyder

I actually had the opportunity to play him last week $5 per hole. All ties carry over, nothing fancy and no stipulations. I made it very clear that you play it as it lies, but didn't throw the handbook at him because I'm not like that. One hole he was laying between two big tree roots and there was no way I'd let him hit that. He would have either broken his club or his wrist lol. All in all he took me 7 holes and I took 11. Dispute was settled and he understands that playing it as it lies is the better option for the long-term. Had a blast and ate/drank/golfed for free out of it! Well not quite, but it definitely helped!

The next rule the two of you need to learn is the one about unplayable lies.

He's the one who decides if he wants to risk injury by hitting from between tree roots. You don't waive rules and then pretend to be scoring.  His obvious option was to call it an unplaybale lie, take the penalty drop and move on.  How can that be so difficult?

[Spyder]

Originally Posted by Shorty

The next rule the two of you need to learn is the one about unplayable lies.

He's the one who decides if he wants to risk injury by hitting from between tree roots. You don't waive rules and then pretend to be scoring.  His obvious option was to call it an unplaybale lie, take the penalty drop and move on.  How can that be so difficult?

Um.. who made anything difficult and why do you assume that I'm not familiar with rules? He took his penalty drop and moved on - rather than risking anything. I didn't need to see a reenactment of what Tiger did, or Rory, or Phil, or many, many others that have tried it so I encouraged him not to take the shot. How can this be so difficult to understand rather than come off condescending and accuse people of "pretend scoring"? lol Your over-all post is the only thing that I need a better understanding of.. not rules buddy.

[lumpuckeroo]

What I find so interesting about all of this is just how different we view "rolling" the ball.  My father is as honest as the day is long, if he bought something in a store and they gave him back 4 cents to much, he would would walk back in and give it back.  But he will "roll" his ball with every single shot, regardless of his lie.  The 9 hole course he plays on is quite honestly nothing more than a mowed pasture with 9 greens, and they play the ball up on that course, even in club tournaments, I can somewhat understand that, but when he comes to play at a nice course he still does it.  He can be in the middle of the fairway with a perfect lie and will still roll his ball.

When my brother and I go play at his course he is always telling us to improve our lie, we actually have been very blunt with him and tell him, that's cheating and we play our ball as it lies, regardless of the condition of the course.  And I can honestly say, if I got back 4 cents extra when I bought something, no way am I walking back in the store to give it back!  But I find I get significant gradification from hitting a good shot from a horrible lie, gives me hope that I might still become a good golfer.

[Grumpter]

Quote:

When my brother and I go play at his course he is always telling us to improve our lie, we actually have been very blunt with him and tell him, that's cheating and we play our ball as it lies, regardless of the condition of the course.

Family or buddies would be one thing, I get that situation. I have listened to some people I just met on the course telling others something like "you are cheating" by doing something similar when they are not playing against one another (or playing against anyone else for that matter). A few nice coughs or talking during the backswing of the guy who has the superiority complex usually brings a smile to my face. If they're not paying someones green fee's or playing them in a match I'm gonna be just as rude back to someone if they stick their nose in someone elses business.

I played a round with a couple of guys a few weeks ago where they simply had to line up and hit every putt (even from less than 1 foot away). I'm OK with that if they were golfers who were decent and playing for money but the one guy finally decided to pickup his ball after the 12th stroke on a hole (without losing a ball). I could see they were bothered by me taking gimme's on real short putts. They kept their traps shut about what annoyed them and I didn't tell them to take any putts as gimme's. The 5 hour round for a riding group of 3 (with another riding group of 3 ahead) was a bit annoying to me though.

[wmiller]

Tried this experiment with a friend, as a result of reading this thread:

Last time we played, I suggested we play for drinks or something. My friend was interested, but cautious (I can give him 5 a side and not bother to bring money). So I told him I'd make it easier for him.

Outside of 150 yds, he could roll it up anywhere within a 3' radius. Inside 150, a 1' radius. On the green, he could mark and then place his ball anywhere within a 3" radius. Lift clean and place was also allowed. Free relief from divots, and spike marks could be repaired. Stroke penalty only , not stroke and distance from hazards or OB.

I'd play by all the rules, and give him 5 a side.

I did enjoy my free drinks after the round, and we realized that even with all that, he didn't shoot any better than he normally does.

Next time we go back to not even bothering with a score. And I'll buy afterwards.

[Shorty]

Originally Posted by Spyder

Um.. who made anything difficult and why do you assume that I'm not familiar with rules?

[Spyder]

lol I'm very sorry. Next time I will type the character limit of this text box and be very precise with my wording as to not upset the elitists and cause confusion. (ie: I did not physically remove the club from his hands or move his ball's position for him. I encouraged him not to risk injury or club damage and he agreed and applied the USGA standard). My sincerest apologies again, Sir Shorty . Never will that happen again in your presence.

(Someone needs a beer or 7....)

[Flyman]

In the few times I've played, this is how I feel. And I think even if I had been playing for years, I would still feel this way if I'm just playing rounds with some friends.

Originally Posted by Grumpter

I feel the same way.

[JoeySwoosh]

It's all about competitiveness. If he's all over you when he scores better,

then yes, I would say he deserves to get commentary on that kind of playing.

If he doesn't, and just plays the game in a casual way, I would say let it be.

Personally, I play the ball as much as it lies, but will move it if it rests again

a rock or a root, or if the ground condition is really bad (plugged or puddle).

Not going to bust my expensive clubs up on a single shot.

[dmilt23451]

You gotta play it as it lies